Is There Really an Effort to Dismantle Health Inequity in America?

I often wonder how much our indigenous brothers and sisters regret feeding the “illegal immigrants” who arrived in what we now call “The Americas.” Genocide and Boarding schools ensued shortly after the arrival of the “settlers” who came upon a land already occupied by human beings who had culture, customs, and language. A group who believed you could not own “Mother Earth” as she is to be adored but not owned. Surprisingly many Americans until recently didn’t know about the Government-sanctioned Boarding schools and the level of starvation, sexual abuse, and disease that ravaged the institutions. Recently mass graves of indigenous children have been discovered behind these boarding schools that were designed to stripe them of their “Savage” ways and assimilate them into white man’s society. General Pratt stated that the boarding schools were developed to “Kill the savage and save the Man[1].”

Looking at health disparities we find that our indigenous sisters are two times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women.[2] African American women are more than five times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications such as cardiomyopathy, Blood Pressure Disorders, etc., than White Women. [3] Death, lack of access to health care, healthy food choices, prenatal care, and generational trauma are some of the attributes that continue to negatively impact the quality of life for those in the BIPOC community. African American children’s infant mortality rate in America is comparable to third world nations[4]—but tell me again about how “All Lives Matter!”

While most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving due to this romanticized idea about what happened, why would our indigenous brothers and sisters celebrate a time of betrayal, genocide, and hate? When the pilgrims left their home country it was in large part due to religious persecution. They came to America and colonized a land and people that were doing fabulous things before their arrival. As many in the African-American community will tell you, the only Christopher we acknowledge is Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls, on what is coined as “Christopher Columbus Day.” The lyric in Rapper Jay-Z’s Ocean album states, “Only Christopher we acknowledge is Wallace,” [5] and is where many picked up the phase.

Do we really want to dismantle the institutions that continue to reproduce disparities at every turn? The system was set up with a Eurocentric mindset. Why would we ever think that there is enough empathy and understanding in our country for people to want to address the health disparities that disproportionately affect the BIPOC community? I know that there are more good people in our world than bad, but they haven’t been as active as they should be in resolving the continued health disparities we experience. It is not uncommon for people living in the Urban Core to have a lack of access to fresh fruit and vegetables. People who work for an hourly wage are not being offered full-time employment in some cases, so the companies don’t have to pay for insurance for them and their families. States have not expanded Medicaid because they aren’t worried about low-income people having access to medical care. Food deserts are abundant in low-income areas as grocery stores indicate there is no profit in them being in such spaces. The disease comes not only from genetics but also from access to quality care, diverse healthy food options, gym memberships, and health care options.

To change the trajectory of health disparities we must address the foundational problem—viewing and dealing with everything in America based on Eurocentric ideology. We are a diverse nation with vastly different experiences for those who have historically and contemporarily been viewed as less than. We need to empower the people in the communities affected with the tools and resources needed to address the disparities. We need to plant gardens, create free access to gyms, and continuing education on eating healthily to ensure we don’t become diabetic or have issues with high blood pressure. We must have more BIPOC representation in the medical field as well as in the federal government, which continues to make decisions that impact our life experiences and expectancies.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I can only hope that our society evolves and wants equity for all, but I currently am failing to see that. I am writing from a state (Florida) that has banned any teaching surrounding racial or sexual identity. We have not expanded Medicaid, we had a mass racialized shooting last month by a white supremacist that came into my city from another county, and we have not given our returning citizens (Felons) their voting rights back although the public voted in support (65%) of Amendment 4, which would automatically restore voting rights to most Floridians with past convictions who had completed all the terms of their sentence.[6] Our Governor decided he didn’t agree with the Amendment and put what could be labeled as a modern-day “poll tax” on our returning citizens.

I know God has an amazing plan, and I just hope that I am here to see it play out and see the wins for those in the BIPOC.